Experts Urge Mass Vaccination for Smallpox Attack (Watch Out)

Reuters ^ | Sun Jul 7 | By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

[Centurion2000]

Voluntary vaccinations ARE open to the public.

Can you cite where and when the public can get the smallpox vaccine ??

[Alas Babylon!]

Yes, this would be my first question to ALL FReepers, government types, and Doctors:

What is the threat of smallpox right now?

Wasn't it eradicated 20-something years ago?

Were you (government types and the medical profession) wrong then?

Why aren't we being alerted as to it being "out there" when for 20 years we were told it was gone forever?

Tell us the FACTS. Is, in fact, the eradicated disease smallpox not eradicated?

Are there reliable reports or intelligence that someone BESIDES the CDC and the Russians have live smallpox? If so, why haven't we made the world aware by bringing it to the UN and asking for an immediate declaration of war? Wouldn't it be a lot more inportant than Saddam not allowing inspectors in? Surely the Third-worlders in the UN have the MOST to fear from smallpox being resurrected?

At least, come clean. What do you know, and when did you know it?

[Centurion2000]

Look...if you were a terrorist, looking to infect a large population with smallpox...a population, I might add, which might be largly immune to the bacterium

Smallpox is a virus.

[tomkat]

thanks for the info, B.

[tallhappy]

First, I haven't stated any "facts" other than that DynPort has the contract to produce the vaccine.

You said monopoly and mentioned the way they procured said monopoly.

[HiTech RedNeck]

There are believed to be no more humans in the whole world infected with the stuff - that's what is meant by "eradicated." However several laboratories still have stocks of the germ.

[tallhappy]

Just trying to understand what you are talking about.

I still don't but am glad to see you backing off talk of monoplies and the like.

[Alas Babylon!]

Well, see, that's my point. Several laboratories? I was led to believe that only two laboratories in the world had live smallpox; the CDC and the Soviets/Russians somewhere. Now it's several? What OTHER labs have been identified? If there are more than the two I've mentioned, that should be a huge cause for concern for the entire world, as this was NOT what we were being told.

[tallhappy]

It ceased being a naturally occurring disease a couple decades ago.

But viral stock was retained, officially in the US and Russia (USSR).

Other nations could have kept stock or materials that can act as seed -- ie scabs, blankets or other items from afflicted.

Soviets are supposed to have grown gallaons and gallons of viral containing broth and weaponized it.

The concern is over who else may have.

[First_Salute]

Si.

[Paleo Conservative]

Israel is better prepared than we are. If Saddam Hussein tried to attack Israel with smallpox, he would solve the Palestinian problem.

[Nam Vet]

The last I recall being vaccinated was at Travis AFB in '67 just prior to being jetted to Thon Son Nhut (Saigon). I remember they stopped vaccinating soon after that. I might be wrong tho'.

Nam Vet

[Blood of Tyrants]

In addition, more people have suppressed immune systems now than in the 1970s, and they could be at special risk not only from the vaccine, but from people recently immunized with it.

There it is, people. The reason we don't start vaccinating. Because it just wouldn't be fair to the homos and druggies with AIDS.

[Old Airplane Driver]

Actually, smallpox vaccinations are not available to the public. I have tried with two doctors to get revaccinated. I had the vaccination as a small child and again when I served in the military. My last vaccination is over 30 years old and no longer effective according to competent medical authority. The docs; 1.) have been fully indroctrinated in the CDC view of things, and , 2.) do not have access to the vaccine. The Federales apparently control the vaccine and only the privileged few will be allowed access to it. I prefer a free market approach in which I can voluntarily request and pay for a vaccination. That is not one of the current options insofar as I have been able to determine.

[browardchad]

One of every dozen U.S. children and teenagers -- 5.2 million -- has a physical or mental disability, according to new figures from the 2000 Census that reflect sharp growth in the nation's young handicapped population over the past decade.

Read beyond the headlines -- a great number of those "handicapped" children are ADD -- a highly subjective diagnoses most often used by schools to control kids who are hyper for any number of reasons, which most often include parental neglect.

[Jim Noble]

Here's a link to Donald Henderson's (and others) analysis of the problem in 1999, well before they were advising the Administration and before 9/11 made this seem realistic.

[Paleo Conservative]

What is the threat of smallpox right now?

Wasn't it eradicated 20-something years ago?

The last case naturally occurring case of the major strain, which is more lethal, was documented in Bangladesh in 1976. The last case of the minor strain, which my grandmother is believed to have contracted when she was a girl, happened in Somalia in 1977. A worker in a laboratory in England was accidentally and fatally infected due to poor safety procedures in 1978. The World Health Organization declared smallpox erradicated in 1980.

The Soviet Union then scaled up their massive program to make smallpox into a weapon of mass destruction. They had the capability to store up to 20 tons of the virus! They had special re-entry vehicles designed to allow delivery via ICBM's. They had special ICBM bases located in the arctic circle in order to maximize the storage time of the virus in their silos. Also, the smallpox variety used in their biolgical weapons program was not the ordinary run of the mill variety. It was a strain from India collected in 1967 that is extremely virulent with mortality rates near 50% rather than the 30% you may have heard about. I don't see why we should assume that some starving ex-Soviet scientists might be tempted to steal a few micrograms of the virus. Considering the huge quantities of smallpox that the Soviets manufacutred, a few grams would be easy to miss. I could imagine that some of the Soviet scientists would be tempted to sell samples of the virus and their expertise to dictators like Saddam Hussein.

If you want to read a good book on this subject, I recommened:

Scourge: The Once and Future Threat of Smallpox.

It is rated at 5 stars on Amazon.com.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Good smallpox information is available HERE-begin top of page.

[Paleo Conservative]

'One of every dozen U.S. children and teenagers -- 5.2 million -- has a physical or mental disability, according to new figures from the 2000 Census that reflect sharp growth in the nation's young handicapped population over the past decade.'

Read beyond the headlines -- a great number of those "handicapped" children are ADD -- a highly subjective diagnoses most often used by schools to control kids who are hyper for any number of reasons, which most often include parental neglect.

The reason that the numbers of "handicapped" children has increase is due to government funding. Parents and school districts are eligible to receive federal government funds for children who are labelled as "handicapped." It doesn't take a degree in economics to understand why there has been such a dramatic increase in the number of reported "handicapped" children.